[1] Starting from the east end of Wartnaby Road, walk away from the busy A606. Take Church Lane on the left. Bear right onto a footpath with a small pond on the left. The footpath bends right and left before entering a churchyard. Pass to the left of the church to locate a stile which leads into a field. Bear right across the field to a stile, cross the stile and continue. The next stile takes you into allotment gardens. The path crosses the site diagonally but you will need to follow grass paths between the plots to a gate in the far hedge which leads out onto a quiet road. Turn left along the road for a short distance to a stile by a gate on the right. Take this path which crosses the field diagonally towards a yellow-topped waymark post by a gap in the hedge to the left of a large tree. Continue across the next field, dropping downhill; head for a track between mature trees on the right and a recent plantation on the left. Take the track and climb again to a gate. Turn right after the gate and follow the wood on your right along the edge of the field.
[2] At the end of this field a gate leads to a track. The accepted path appears to be along this track but some waymark posts are located on the field headland path just to the left. This route offers excellent views, whereas the track is lined with trees and bushes restricting any views, especially in summer. Follow the track keeping a hedge on your right for about 1km as it gently curves to the left. Ignore any paths off to the left. After passing over a ditch board, the hedge ends and a good headland path goes off to the right alongside the hedge. This is not the path. Continue in the same direction as before, following a hedge on your left and a line of wires on poles to your right. When the path opens out into a field, continue along the left side of the field. At a gate, markers indicate that the path goes both right and left. Turn right and head across the open field to the road, where it also meets the headland path.
[3] Cross the road and take the stile into a grass field. On entry, there may be an electric fence. If so, take care negotiating it. On the far horizon is a white building with an arch in the centre. Head towards this. When the land falls away, seek out and cross a stile in the hedge. (There may be another electric fence just before this stile - take care!) Then continue the descent through more fields of grass - which may contain horses - to meet the road by a gate and stile. Turn left along the road through Saxelbye.
A short detour down Church Lane is worth taking. It offers a close view of the church and a small building which may well have been the school but now serves as the village hall.
Back on the main street, continue, passing a row of cottages on the right.
(A) If you are walking midweek you may see men or women crossing the street dressed in overalls. Not muddy farm overalls, but clean coveralls and caps. No signs offer information, but here is Webster's Dairy, a small producer of stilton 'the king of English cheeses'. Their website, www.webstersdairy.co.uk, says: "Nestled in the idyllic hamlet of Saxelbye, Leicestershire is a row of 17th-century cottages ... where we lovingly produce the finest quality blue stilton cheese."
Pass to the left of the Old Station House, then under the ornate railway bridge which once carried the main line from Nottingham to London. The railway is now a test track, with a mix of trains from Virgin Pendolinos to London Transport's new Underground stock. At the road junction take the footpath a little to the right, opposite the wooden bus shelter. Head across the field, crossing a bridge over a stream. Bear a little to the right and go up the field with the hedge on your left. After about 500 metres a large gap appears in the hedge and a yellow-topped waymark post indicates a path intersection. Turn right along this path across the field to a stile. Cross and continue up the hedge side to the road.
[4] Cross the road and continue in the same direction still with a hedge / fence on your left. After 200 metres the hedge turns left with a good headland path, but our path continues on the former line across the field to meet the headland path at a stile and yellow-topped waymark post. Cross the stile and cut across this field corner to another stile and continue in the same direction towards the village and church spire of Grimston. Keep the hedge on your left until a stile leaves the field and the route becomes a track with a tall brick wall to the left. Follow the track to the village street.
Turn left at the main street to explore the village green with children's play equipment, ancient stocks or refreshments from The Black Horse Inn. Retrace your steps but keep on the left side of the road and the path takes a safe route through the churchyard.
(B) If open, Grimston Church is worth a look inside. A wooden framed clock dating from the 16th century is displayed on the wall. On the floor by the door is a gravestone which appears to have been used for practice of the alphabet. This section would have been set in the ground and hence normally hidden from view.
Leaving the churchyard, the road bends right with the former chapel on the left and village hall on the right. Take the bridleway left, up the drive of 'The Lilacs'. Pass through the yard and enter a field. Cross this field and bear left in the next field to follow the hedge on your right. Drop down through two gates then climb again towards a house. Here the path crosses over the rail line which is in a short tunnel. Pass to the right of the house and follow their drive up the hill.
[5] When the drive bends left, carry straight on through a bridlegate and drop again to cross another small stream then climb to pass to the left of the farm buildings. A gate leads onto the road. Take the bridlegate opposite and cross the corner of the field to a track. Turn right along the track and follow this towards Wartnaby. Where the track divides, bear left towards the houses in the distance. On reaching the village of Wartnaby, go through a gate onto the public road. Continue straight ahead, past the tradesman's entrance to Wartnaby House on the right.
Wartnaby is a rather private village with no through traffic. Until 2005 it was the home of the late Lord King Chairman of British Airways.
Go past a red phone box on the right. At the junction (where there is a noticeboard), turn left along the road, passing the church on your right. At the road junction turn right and pass Church Farm on the right. When the road turns right again, take the bridleway through the gate ahead. The obvious route across the field may be a narrow grass path, deliberately left for walkers. If there, it's not quite on the proper line, but who wants to walk through the crop? So stray a little and return to Ab Kettleby, grass all the way.
Enter the next field and follow the hedge on your left to the corner by the main road. Do not go out onto the road. Turn right in the corner and head across the field towards the church spire which peeps over the top of the hedge. Approaching the hedge, bear a little to the left of the spire to locate a gate. Pass through the gate and follow the field edge with a hedge on your left. Go through the first gate and, just before the second, take the stile in the hedge on your left. Cross the corner of the next field, then bear right down a slope through a yard and a driveway to the village street. Turn left back towards the A606 and the starting point.